NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK CONCERNING THE APPLICATION OF CROSS-BORDER INSTRUMENTS TO PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL AND/OR PSYCHOSOCIAL DISABILITIES IN LAW AND PRACTICE 25 Thus far, Lithuania has not implemented the guarantees provided in the recommendations for vulnerable persons in criminal proceedings. In 2017, Ms. Dovilė Juodkaitė, who is a lawyer and President of the Lithuanian Disability Forum, thoroughly analysed the situation regarding the implementation of the EC recommendations in Lithuania. After analysing the documents and conducting interviews, it was discovered that the main principles outlined in the aforementioned recommendations regarding procedural guarantees for vulnerable persons, suspected or accused in criminal cases, were neither transferred to the Lithuanian legal base nor applied in the practice of Lithuanian courts as they should be.22 First of all, the term ‘vulnerable person’ does not exist in Lithuanian criminal law, so the guarantees set out in the recommendation are not guaranteed to persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. In addition, although the restriction and deprivation of liberty should be applied to more vulnerable persons only in exceptional cases, in the absence of a procedure to recognise a person as being ‘vulnerable’ in the first place, it may be concluded that the deprivation of liberty may also be applied to those persons to whom it should not be applied in their specific individual circumstances. Juodkaitė D. (2017) Persons with Intellectual and/or Psychosocial Disabilities. Strengthening Procedural Rights in Criminal Law. Analysis of the Situation in Lithuania. Available in Lithuanian at: https://bit.ly/3FbN6cj. 22